Question: How much does it cost to buy some Genes?

Jim Caryl answered on 17 Jun 2011:

So remember, genes are defined unites of DNA that code for proteins, and proteins are the both the building blocks of cells (and thus an organism) as well as the enzymes that enable all the biochemical interactions within the cell that make life possible. So when we talk about genes, what we’re often interested in is the protein they actually produce….and sometimes it is the protein/enzyme that costs a lot of money.

With regards you question, it depends. Most of the genes that I work on are free, I just have to go and find them in a bacteria somewhere (often from some other scientist’s lab) and isolate them. Sometimes there are repositories that store genes, and you can write to them to get them to send you some. Often this is free, or the cost is nominal (to cover postage and administration).

There are some repositories that allow you to put genes together like lego pieces. You just select the type of function you want your protein to have, and it will take you to the genes that make proteins with that function: http://partsregistry.org/Protein_coding_sequences

If you want to use a machine to synthesis a gene from scratch, i.e. assemble all the DNA from the four component bases that make DNA, and arrange them into the correct order that makes a particular gene, this can be quite expensive – though not nearly as expensive as it used to be. I had a reasonably large gene made in this way by a company a few years ago, and it cost about £2500.

Some companies have patented (or tried to patent) genes that are important in cancer – this is so that they can control the research in this area, and protect whatever investment they make into finding medicines that target that gene. This raises all sorts of ethical questions about who owns your genes – you own your genes while they are in your cells, but some of them might belong to a big company somewhere if you tried to isolate them – in the same way that I regularly isolate genes.